Written Answers Monday 6 July 2009

Scottish Executive

Credit Unions

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many credit unions currently operate in Scotland, broken down by local authority area.

Alex Neil: We do not hold up-to-date details of credit unions in Scotland, including their common bond coverage, which would allow us to provide a breakdown by local authority area. However, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which regulates credit unions, has advised us that 119 credit unions currently operate in Scotland.

Dyslexia

Stuart McMillan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been diagnosed with dyslexia in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Keith Brown: There is no central register of adults assessed as having dyslexia. However, the number of pupils with additional support needs due to dyslexia are reported each year in Pupils in Scotland , available on the government website using the following link:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/PubPupilCensus.

  Stuart McMillan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding is provided to each local authority to help them tackle dyslexia.

Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is currently providing local government in Scotland with record levels of funding, £23 billion for the period 2008-10. The vast majority of the funding, including the funding for tackling dyslexia , is being provided by means of a block grant.

  It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities, including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives as set out in the concordat.

  The total revenue allocations for each local authority for 2009-10 can be found in column 10 of Annex C on page five of the latest Local Government Finance circular using the following link:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/917/0079447.pdf.

Fuel Poverty

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) children and (b) older people are in fuel poor households and what percentage of households are fuel-poor in (i) Edinburgh, (ii) each local authority area in the Lothians region and (iii) Scotland.

Alex Neil MSP: The table below shows the estimated percentage of children, pensioners and households living in fuel poverty for East Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian and West Lothian. The estimates come from the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) for October 2004 to September 2005, October 2005 to September 2006, and 2007.

  

 
East Lothian
Edinburgh
Midlothian
West Lothian
Scotland


Estimated %
 
 
 
 
 


% of Children in Fuel-Poor Households
9
5
13
5
9


% of Older Persons in Fuel-Poor Households
31
46
37
33
40


% of Fuel-Poor Households
21
19
20
14
22


Sample Size
 
 
 
 
 


Children
130
221
145
119
4,176


Older People
136
193
128
88
4,416


House-holds
249
555
250
245
9,273


+/- % Confidence Interval
 
 
 
 
 


% of Children in Fuel-Poor Households
3
2
3
2
1


% of Older Persons in Fuel-Poor Households
5
4
5
6
1


% of Fuel-Poor Households
3
2
3
2
1



  The table also includes the SHCS sample size for each of the authority divisions and the 95% confidence interval. As the figures are derived from a survey they are estimates. So for example the percentage of children living in fuel poverty in East Lothian is 9% +/- 3%. So the 95% confidence interval is from 6% to 12%.

  Fuel poverty measures are dependent on fuel prices. In the three-year period represented in the data, the overall level of fuel poverty is 22%, while by 2007 25% of households in Scotland were in fuel poverty.

  The SHCS sample size is about 3,000 households per year. This is too small to provide reliable estimates at local authority for each year. Nonetheless one can estimate what the figures would have been in mid-2007 using the three year data and the 2007 fuel poverty levels. The following table shows the estimated level of fuel poverty in 2007 - using the three-year data and the 2007 national fuel poverty level.

  

Authority
2007 Estimated %


% of Children in 
Fuel-Poor Households
% of Older Persons in Fuel-Poor Households
% of Fuel-Poor Households


East Lothian 
10
35
23


Edinburgh 
6
51
22


Midlothian 
15
41
23


West Lothian 
6
37
15


Scotland 
11
45
25

Housing

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to implement the recommendations of the Rural Housing Inquiry conducted by the Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Environment Committee.

Alex Neil: I will be writing very shortly to the Convener of the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee, enclosing the Scottish Government’s formal response to the Committee’s recommendations. The response should subsequently be available on the Scottish Parliament website.

  Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses will be built in rural communities with grant support from the Scottish Government in 2009-10.

Alex Neil: The number of planned unit approvals and completions in 2009-10 to be built in rural communities with grant support from the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) is:

  

 
AHIP Rural Classification
Scottish Government Six-Fold Urban Rural Classification: Accessible and Remote Rural


Planned Rural Approvals 
1,464
707


Planned Rural Completions
1,546
763



  The Affordable Housing Investment Programme classification is based on previous Scottish Government urban/rural definitions at local authority level, for consistency with historic data. This classification includes as rural, towns in predominantly rural local authority areas e.g. Oban.

  The figures above exclude planned units to be provided through the Home Owners Support Fund and Shared Equity Open Market Pilot as these are demand-led programmes therefore locations are not predetermined.

  Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of 2009-10 unit approvals by the Housing Investment Division will be built in rural Scotland as defined by the Scottish Government six-fold urban rural classification.

Alex Neil: The proportion of planned 2009-10 unit approvals by the Housing Investment Division in rural Scotland as defined by the Scottish Government six-fold urban rural classification is 9%. The proportion of planned approvals in rural Scotland as defined by the Affordable Housing Investment Programme classification is 18%.

  The above figures exclude planned approvals of Home Owners Support Fund and Shared Equity Open Market Pilot as these are demand-led programmes, therefore location of approvals are not predetermined.

Illegal Money Lending

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with local authorities (a) as part of the concordat or (b) separately to ensure the mapping of illegal lending in each local authority area.

Alex Neil: Illegal money lending (lending without a credit licence) is a breach of the consumer credit legislation which is reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government funds specialist units to tackle illegal money lending. The Scottish team has no formal partnership arrangements with local authorities, but does inform them before they work in an area, and local Trading Standards officers may accompany them when a search warrant is executed.

  Illegal moneylenders prey on some of the most vulnerable people in society and cause immense misery. It has always proved very difficult to bring them to justice.

NHS Hospitals

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much is spent per day on food for each inpatient in hospitals where the cook-chill system is used.

Shona Robison: No information is held centrally on how much is spent per day on food for each inpatient in hospitals where the cook-chill system is used. Scottish Health Service Costs 2008 presents information on catering costs per patient consumer week, by health board and hospital, in tables R070 and R070X. These tables are available at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/costs-book-detailed-tables.jsp?pContentID=3612&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

  Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much per day is spent on food for each inpatient in hospitals where the cook-freeze system is used.

Shona Robison: No information is held centrally on how much per day is spent on food for each inpatient in hospitals where the cook-freeze system is used. Scottish Health Service Costs 2008 presents information on catering costs per patient consumer week, by health board and hospital, in tables R070 and R070X. These tables are available at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/costs-book-detailed-tables.jsp?pContentID=3612&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

  Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much per day is spent on food for each inpatient in hospitals where conventional catering systems are used.

Shona Robison: No information is held centrally on how much per day is spent on food for each inpatient in hospitals where conventional catering systems are used. Scottish Health Service Costs 2008 presents information on catering costs per patient consumer week, by health board and hospital, in tables R070 and R070X. These tables are available at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/costs-book-detailed-tables.jsp?pContentID=3612&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

Olympic Games

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has developed for each local authority area to secure a legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Nicola Sturgeon: We published the interim Games Legacy Plan on 18 December 2008 which set the direction in providing a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and also the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. We aim to publish our full Legacy Plan later this summer. Throughout the process of developing these plans we have worked closely with a range of partners, including COSLA and their community planning partners to encourage them to maximise the opportunities from London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.